The intersection of Loudon Road and East Side Drive is a congested, high-traffic area with a closed all-you-can-eat restaurant, a car wash, a nail salon and fast-food chains set back from the street.
A new vision for that part of the city replaces the large parking lots, staggered buildings and unsafe pedestrian conditions with a design that looks a lot like downtown Concord – two-story buildings pulled tight against a wide sidewalk offering retail stores on the ground level with housing above, outdoor patio seating and trees and lampposts separating the sidewalk from the street.
Further up Loudon Road, in the area of the almost vacant Steeplegate Mall, city planners see trees and green spaces running the length of the property with apartment buildings, townhouses, single-family homes and retail stores filling a more walkable community.
Across Concord on Fisherville Road, a cluster of mostly vacant lots and scattered structures could become a vibrant community mix of apartments featuring interconnected side streets and sidewalks.
None of these visions are current proposals the city has in hand; rather, they are examples of what Concord could look like if significant changes are made to its zoning laws.
Through several public presentations last summer, City Planner Heather Shank and Code Studio designers presented development models to illustrate how local neighborhoods could be transformed by showing areas in other communities that have been successfully retrofitted to use land more efficiently while its population grows.
To conceptualize what the changes could look like here, four areas of the city were chosen as hypothetical examples of the type of development that could happen if the new code is accepted by city councilors.
“These are specific areas we didn’t feel we had enough public input on how the community would like to see these areas move forward in the future,” Shank said. “As a result of the public meetings, participants supported prioritizing pedestrians over parking, improving walkability, allow for a greater variety of housing types and allowing for more mixing of uses.”
Particular areas of Concord were designed with a focus on cars and traffic patterns, and their development history reflects that in the form of drive-through stores, isolated office buildings, strip malls with big parking lots and other less-pedestrian-friendly construction.
Most of the housing that exists along Loudon Road consists of boxy apartment buildings surrounded by asphalt.
“While looking at this site, look at how limited the connectivity through the site is here,” Shank said during a presentation. “The existing conditions show poor pedestrian experiences, large parking lots and curb cuts, a disconnected street network and sidewalks that are interrupted.”
Under the proposed zoning changes, business owners and homeowners could build up their properties to include mixed uses like office and retail spaces, apartment buildings and townhouses, creating more of a downtown look. The reconfiguration of the area would improve the streetscape, make it safer for bikers and pedestrians and reduce traffic near the intersection and along Loudon Road by use of interconnected streets.
Though most residents were in favor of the concept, Sarah Robinson was concerned about how the improvements might impact the affordability of residents living there, she said during a public presentation in August.
“I think about our refugee and immigrant communities that are concentrated on Loudon Road, and when I brought it up to them, they were excited,” Robinson said. “That community in particular would really benefit from a project like this, but displacement is a concern. Places like this are desirable for everyone, and we need to keep them in mind throughout this project as we move forward.”
The Loudon Road area, referred to often as the Heights, was identified as one of New Hampshire’s most diverse neighborhoods in the state by the U.S. Census, and rents are typically less expensive than in other parts of the city.
“We don’t want to replace affordable housing there,” Shank responded. “We desperately need housing of all demographics, but I’m not sure we’re in a place to require ‘affordable’ as part of a project.”
Shank and designer Kelsey Morrow shared similar opinions about an area of the city that was far less developed. In particular, one section of Fisherville Road had some buildings on lots that were otherwise vacant. The area could be transformed into a vibrant neighborhood.
“Under the new code, we are looking at mixed-use buildings lining Fisherville Road while keeping the existing buildings in place,” Morrow said. “We’d like to see a wide variety of housing types, from duplexes and townhouses to single-family homes and a connected street network with possible future connections.”
In the revised plan, the current commercial buildings are seen pulled tight against the roadway and filled with storefronts. Behind the buildings is an open space park in the middle of the neighborhood followed by multi-family dwellings, single-family homes and apartment buildings. Parking would be in the back of the neighborhood, and streets would be carved out through the site to promote interconnectivity between roadways and neighborhoods.
“This is right in my backyard; I’ll be looking at it, and it’s a very nice plan,” said former City Councilor Allan Herschlag. “But it would be desirable to have a plan in place before development occurred. People will need to get into their cars and go on the highway and to the store, and I wouldn’t be too excited to see all of that traffic emptying into my neighborhood.”
Continuing, he said though it’s an excellent example of increasing density in a neighborhood concept, he worries that Fisherville Road could become congested if traffic flow isn’t considered.
“It’s similar to Loudon Road already, and if we do nothing, it will be a carbon copy,” Shank said. “The goal here is to halt that progression in the case of Fisherville Road and reverse it on Loudon Road. There are multiple routes to think of. This is just a first step.”
With a nearly vacant mall at its center, the area is known for expansive parking lots and underutilized space, which makes it outdated, planners said.
“We want to create a street network of walkable block sizes throughout the area, create a linear green space as part of the plan and implement a wide range of building types from commercial and retail use to mixed-use and housing types, so people can live and work all in one area,” said designer Morrow.
With mixed-use and retail buildings lining D’Amante Drive, open green spaces would be bordered by single-family homes, duplexes, townhouses and apartments with smaller, dedicated parking spaces for residents and visitors.
“It’s a huge improvement over what’s there, but where are the green spaces?” Mark Cheever asked. “This challenges us to think about how we can put green spaces into the code or proactively set aside spaces for that.”
Directly south of downtown Concord, between South Main Street and Interstate 93, is industrial flex zone and commercial corridor with a large, undeveloped marsh area.
“There is potential to redevelop the large commercial properties to a more urban development with streetscape improvements,” Morrow said.
The undeveloped marshland would remain, but the industrial properties would have the opportunity to expand and conform to zoning laws, she continued.
If developed, Morrow highlighted the need for hotels, restaurants, renovated older homes and walking spaces similar to that of downtown Concord.
“We want to emphasize that part of the point is not to change the use or character of the industrial zone but allow them to continue to expand and create more of a mixed environment by allowing more flexibility in the area,” Shank said.
This is one area of the city that is actively being developed. The Rail Yard housing complex – which could have more than 200 apartments and mixed used buildings – is currently under construction.
Shank and Morrow explained that redeveloping older homes into large commercial properties would make the streetscape more urban and walkable, which would improve a largely commercial street that is not pedestrian friendly.
The industrial zone features expansive parking lots intermingled between historic buildings and underutilized warehouses. If reconfigured, the area could feature three-story apartment complexes that offer commercial and residential services, focusing on a live-and-work model for artist communities.
Commenting on what the development could add to the city, Jay Doherty said this could be a huge opportunity for artists to perform and showcase their work to residents and visitors alike.
“The arts community, the maker community and the flex community can use this space in a different way than in other parts of the city,” he said.
The goal of this project, which was originally slated to take two years, is to update zoning regulations that are more than 20 years old. The new document is meant to be visually appealing and easy to read, reduce the bureaucratic hurdles required for new developments and bring the zoning code in line with how Concord looks today and hopes to look in the future.
“The new code will make it easier to do things like this,” Shank said. “Concord is ready for new things.”
City planners are looking to residents for feedback on what they want the future of their Concord neighborhoods to look like. The date of the next public information meeting has not been announced but questions, comments and additional feedback can be submitted through concordnext.info/contact . Additional information about the project is available on the ConcordNext website.